JOINT BASE LEWIS, McChord, Wash. — The U.S. soldier who massacred 16 Afghan civilians last year in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
The sentence was the most severe possible but left surviving victims and relatives of the dead deeply unsatisfied.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 40, who pleaded guilty in June, showed no emotion as the verdict was announced. Bales’ mother, sitting in the front row of the court, bowed her head and wept.
As the verdict was announced, an interpreter flashed a thumbs-up sign to Afghan villagers who were either wounded or lost family members in the March 11, 2012, attacks.
“I saw his mother trying to cry, but at least she can go visit him,” said Hajji Mohammad Naim, who was shot in the neck. “What about us? Our family members are actually 6 feet under.”
